One thing that always makes each school year distinct is the incoming faculty and staff from year to year. They bring their unique experience with them and put their own stamp on the classes we take. Over these past few weeks, we have conducted interviews with the new faculty and staff and asked the same questions hoping to see if there are similarities and differences between their experiences.
The new faculty and staff that were interviewed included:
Ms. Thompson, who is the new history teacher at the Upper School
Mr. Domogas, who is the new tech support specialist at the Upper School
Mr. Wong, who is the associate director of the Upper School
Ms. Russell, who is the new learning specialist at the Upper School
Ms Halperin, who is the new English teacher at the Upper School
Where are you from?
Ms. Thompson- She was born and raised in Baltimore and lived on the campus of an all-boys school that her dad taught at. After attending college in Massachusetts she went to graduate school in New Orleans and then stayed there for 32 years. She then moved to the DMV in pursuit of a job available at SSSAS. So far after following Mr. Cortez’s advice and coming here, she has loved the past 4 months in the DMV area and at SSSAS.
Mr. Domagas – He was born in Maryland and has been in the DMV area for about 25 years.
Mr. Wong- He was born in Boston, Massachusetts. Lived there for 18 years and then went to college in Maine. Stayed in Boston a little bit after college and then lived in New York for the past 10 years.
Ms. Russell- She is from Alexandria, Virginia. She attended Bishop Ireton during high school. Then went to Colby College in Maine where she was recruited to play basketball.
Ms. Halperin- She was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and was raised in the DMV. She moved to the United States when she was two years old and lived in Potomac, Maryland. She went to Rhode Island for college and moved back to the DMV area. She then started living in Crystal City, Virginia for 3 years. After that, she went to Michigan for Grad school and she lived in North Carolina for 15 years after graduating. She then moved back to Virginia in Alexandria a couple of years ago and has lived there ever since.
What did you do before SSSAS?
Ms. Thompson- During her time in New Orleans she taught at Louise’s McGee school which was an all-girls school. How she found out about SSSAS because she taught with Mr. Cortez at Louise’s McGee. Ironically Ms. Thompson taught math and Mr. Cortez taught history in New Orleans, but later during their time at McGee they switched jobs. For the next 26 years, she would teach there until Mr. Cortez, who had moved to SSSAS, told her about it and said they had a job opening. She had previously heard of SSSAS because she attended high school with Ms. Adams. She continues teaching history, and coaching cross country and track at SSSAS.
Mr. Domagas- At first he was interested in a workforce for young adults and then landed a spot to work for Facebook/Meta where he gained knowledge and connections with others. Eventually, he switched gears leading him into job searching. After many searches, he ended up interning at Maret School in DC. He was told that he would work there for six months but then it turned out he was only there for two. After working there he got an interview and then an internship at SSSAS. He loved it so he decided to work there as tech support.
Mr. Wong- He worked at an independent school slightly bigger than SSSAS called Poly Prep in Brooklyn, New York. He was originally a Latin teacher but then moved into a similar position to what he has here, but more student andparent advising like academic advising, curricular advising, college counseling, and a lot of administrative organizational work with teachers and the head of their upper school.
Ms. Russell- She worked as a special education teacher for about 3 years at a public charter high school in D.C. called Friendship Collegiate Academy. She taught math, geometry, algebra, and pre-algebra.
Ms. Halperin- After college, she worked at SSSAS for three years. She taught 6th grade English and 4th, 5th, and 6th grade Spanish. She also taught at the University of Michigan while getting her Ph.D., teaching undergraduate students. She taught subjects like comparative literature, English composition, and American studies class, and taught Spanish through community service.
What are the biggest differences between SSSAS and your
previous school?
Ms. Thompson- The biggest difference was the co-ed environment of SSSAS. Coming from a small all-girls school she was also surprised by the size of the school. The moment she stepped into the first chapel she realized that there were a lot of students. At McGee, there were only about thirty to forty students per grade. This meant that she knew and taught almost every student in that school. Although the differences were big there were still many similarities such as the honor code.
Mr. Domagas- One of the biggest differences between SSSAS compared to Maret school and his other past jobs is chapel. Having never seen chapel in a school environment is very interesting and exciting for him. Another difference is that the lower, middle, and upper schools are all on separate campuses.
Mr. Wong- One of the biggest differences is SSSAS being an Episcopal school while the school he used to be at was non-denominational. That school did not have Chapel or a dress code. Another big difference was that the middle school and high school were on the same campus.
Ms. Russell- The level of academics here is much stronger than at her previous school which she said shows how much our students are capable of. A lot more school spirit, community, and a sense of inclusion here than in her previous school. A lot more opportunities to find inclusion in our school and come together as a community like having morning meetings every week.
Ms. Halperin- The biggest differences she noted between working at SSSAS 20 years ago and working now is the differences between the campuses, and how they seem to have their own “character” as she phrases it. She mentions how in the lower school there was an emphasis on having fun while teaching kids subjects like Spanish, and how that helps them learn the language better. She also mentions the similarities seen between the 6th graders and the freshmen at SSSAS. She sees it as both grades are the “first grades” in their campus and their division. She also mentions how both are the youngest on their respective campuses, as well as getting used to the new difficulty of transitioning into middle and high school. She also mentions the workload amount and how frequently she saw her students as different.
How do you like SSSAS so far?
Ms. Thompson- The first thing that she loved was the history department. It was very different from her old school. She loved the different subjects that are being learned and the way it is structured. The other thing she loved which she never had and McGee was her own office and the faculty room. She likes how the different teachers can put ideas together for certain things. But she does miss having her own classroom at McGee which isn’t the case at SSSAS.
Mr. Domagas- After stepping on campus for the first time he felt very welcomed by both faculty and students. He noticed how rich the culture and spirit of the school is and how friendly everyone is. Helping the teachers and students is something that he is glad about.
Mr. Wong- He said that the community is very lovely and welcoming as it seems like everyone is enjoying their time here. It is very different from New York but in a good way, since New York was more tense and having to drive in the city is horrible. He enjoys his 15-minute drive to school and just having the ability to access the outdoors and hiking trails.
Ms. Russell- She loves the community and feels like she has a great support system. Says that all the students have been great and is enjoying meeting everyone and working with her team in the academic center. She is enjoying the school spirit and has enjoyed Spirit Week.
Ms. Halperin- She enjoys being back at SSSAS but acknowledges the challenges students have to go through while writing in-class essays due to the growing advances of ChatGPT. She says that she would struggle with writing in-class essays because she is a slow and meticulous writer, and needs time to revise and edit, which isn’t possible doing a timed in-class essay. She also sees a benefit to having in-class essays. She believes that in-class essays are limiting distractions like being on your phone or even feeling tempted to look at your phone. She also thinks it helps that a teacher is right near the students in case they have a question, which you couldn’t do before at home.
What do you like best about our school?
Ms. Thompson- She thinks that chapel is very moving and interesting. Her favorite part of chapel is the senior chapel talk and getting to hear from the students. She is very impressed by the school’s commitment to the mission and the amount of school spirit. Her favorite part is the connections between students and teachers and how nice they are to each other.
Mr. Domagas- He loves the community service and help that he provides to both teachers and students. He also loves the clubs at school because he never had that at Maret. Also, the amount of resources that are available for the teachers and students is very helpful. He also loves the benefits that come from working at SSSAS. He loves the service that he does, the clubs, the amount of resources that faculty and students have access to, and the benefits that come with working here.
Mr. Wong- He enjoys the school spirit and how everyone buys into things like Spirit Week. A thing that he found very nice and surprising in a positive way was how people seemed like they actually wanted to be here and enjoy things that provide school spirit like the green vs. red teams and morning meeting games.
Ms.Russell- She said that the community and how everybody comes here every day trying to do the best they can and how students and teachers are always trying to work together in the best way possible.
Ms. Halperin- As mentioned before she loves being back at SSSAS. One major highlight for her has been Chapel this year. She has loved hearing the beautifully spoken speeches every week, the music being played during it, as well as the sense of community she feels every week during Chapel. She has also enjoyed the sense of community and friendship even outside of Chapel. She enjoyed hearing “thank you” at the end of class. Lastly, she’s enjoyed the connection she’s felt with other teachers at SSSAS this school year. She says they never get tired of seeing each other during meetings, and some teachers even meet outside of school. She’s had an amazing time at SSSAS so far this school year.
